From 2014, Brose’s North American production plant in Tuscaloosa will be equipping the new generation of the Mercedes C-Class in the USA with door and seat systems. The news was announced by Markus Schaefer, CEO and President of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) in Tuscaloosa on October 27th during his meeting with Brose Executive Vice President Kurt Sauernheimer (Door Systems), Jan Kowal (President Brose North America) and the plant’s General Manager, Johannes Carl.

In his address, Markus Schaefer congratulated the Brose plant on behalf of his team, highlighted the successful collaboration and his particular trust in the capabilities of Brose Tuscaloosa, and asked them to “keep up the good work”.

Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, who accompanied the delegation along with other local government officials, described the expansion of the collaboration between the two companies as an important step towards strengthening Alabama’s future economic stability and expressed his thanks that an automotive supplier as important as Brose is based in the state.

Brose Executive Vice President Kurt Sauernheimer highlighted the decades of successful collaboration with Mercedes that have been characterized by high standards and fair dealings. Jan Kowal, President of Brose North America, focused on the strategic importance that the Tuscaloosa site has enjoyed over the years in terms of the continuous expansion of its production program and customer base, which are important criteria for stability and further growth. From its Tuscaloosa plant Brose already supplies door systems for the Mercedes plant in Vance, seat systems for Volkswagen in Chattanooga, and cooling fan modules for BMW in Spartanburg and General Motors in Saltillo (Mexico). In addition, it recently started production of seat systems for Ford in Louisville (Kentucky) and in 2012 will also start supplying Ford in Hermosillo (Mexico).

The new C-Class-order and further customer projects will take the number of employees in Tuscaloosa from 172 to around 500 by 2015.